Christmas cookies

As a child, I loved using my little cookie cutter forms and produce a variety of differently shaped butter cookies, which I later decorated wildly. But as much as I enjoyed making butter cookies, I really, really loved to eat Lebkuchen! In fact, I couldn’t get enough of them. My favorite was the Elisenlebkuchen, made by my aunt from a family recipe, which was quite elaborate and required not only ample time but also lots of attention.

On a mission to find a recipe that would combine the easiness of a butter cookie recipe but encapsulate a flavor reminiscent of my cherished Lebkuchen in the final product, I came across this delectable and easy-to-make recipe for gingerbread cookies. And, the fun thing is…I can use all my cookie cutter forms with this kind of dough as well. Bingo!

Dive into our last Christmas cookie recipe for this holiday season!

Bon Appétit!

———————-

INGREDIENTS:

70g Sugar

180g Honey

1 Egg Yolk

1 Pinch of Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Candied Orange Peel (orangeat)

5 tbsp Water

375g Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

PROCEDURE:

Step #1 – First put the sugar and the honey in a pot and heat it up until it turns into a creamy mixture (don’t cook!). Put aside and let cool down. Preheat the oven to 356 Fahrenheit.

Step #2 – Add egg yolk, cinnamon, salt, and water to the mixture and mix well. Put flour and baking powder into a separate mixing bowl and add the honey mixture to it. Blend well. Cover the mixing bowl and let the batter rest for 24 hours.

Step #3 – Roll out the dough and cut out cookies in a gingerbread man shape for example. But any shape works fine. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit (top and bottom heat) for 11 minutes. Sugarcoat or decorate with icing or sprinkles.

Step #4 – Enjoy as a savory Christmas treat with friends and family, or use as a special decoration on your Christmas tree!

In our Christmas Cookie Baking Series, we share today one of Dieter Kermas’ favorite ‘Weihnachtsplätzchen’ that he has baked for years! It’s a straightforward recipe that doesn’t need any eggs.

The cookies make for a beautiful looking and deliciously tasting Christmas treat. In fact, this cookie and some with slight variations (different jams & jellies) belong to the traditional staple of Christmas cookies in Germany and shouldn’t miss on any Christmas cookie platter. A variation of this cookie is called ‘Spitzbuben’, a cookie that looks similar but sometimes incorporates an egg in its cookie batter.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

300g Flour

100g almond flour

185g powdered sugar

2 packets of vanilla sugar

1 pinch of salt

225g Butter

some flour to roll out the dough

75g raspberry jelly

PROCEDURE:

Step #1 – For the dough, mix the flour with the almond flour and the 125g powdered sugar.

Step #2 – Make a well in the middle. Add the Vanilla sugar and the pinch of salt to it.

Step #3 – Spread the butter in little flakes around it. Quickly prepare to a smooth batter. Cover and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Step #4 – On a lightly floured work surface roll out the dough about 3mm thick. Cut out round cookies with a diameter of 6cm. Turn half of the cookie batch into circles by cutting out a hole of about 2cm in the middle.

Step #5 – Put all on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8 minutes at 392 Fahrenheit.

Step #6 – Once baked, remove the circles with the holes from the baking sheet and dip them still warm in a mixture of powdered sugar and the rest of the vanilla sugar.

Step #7 – Cover the full round cookies with the raspberry jelly and place the powder sugared circles on top of it.

Tastes delicious with a hot cup of coffee, hot chocolate or spiced tea!

Merry Christmas!

Image: Pixabay.com

———————————————————————————————–——————–——

Dieter Kermas, CaliforniaGermans Author and a true Berliner, turned to writing after he retired from his profession as an engineer. Family and friends urged him to document his many experiences during his childhood in wartime Germany. This made for a collection of various essays which have been published here at CaliforniaGermans. (You can find the stories here on CaliforniaGermans.com by putting “Dieter Kermas” into the Search Box.) Apart from his childhood memories, he is also sharing some of his short stories and poems on CaliforniaGermans. Dieter Kermas, who loves to write, has published his first novel “Kolja. Liebe im Feindesland”in 2016, available at Amazon. Some of his work has been included in anthologies.

To get in touch with Dieter Kermas, please send an email with subject line “Dieter Kermas” to californiagermans@gmail.com
———————————————————————————————————————–

Growing up, baking cookies for Christmas was an established tradition by my grandmother and me. We used to bake a specific kind of sugar cookies and then decorate them with fun stuff like edible glitter and chocolate lentils. When I was older, the tradition continued with friends. During the month of December, a couple of my girlfriends and I would meet at one of our homes and bake the afternoon away, making about 3-4 batches of our favorite cookies.

Nowadays, I am still an avid cookie eater during the Holidays, but I have been researching some healthier options. I still love to indulge and don’t believe in depriving myself of anything I like, but I do prefer to have a healthier alternative here and there. So today I’d like to share a recipe that I discovered from Tone It Up, a fitness community for women who I have been a part of for several years now.

The recipe doesn’t require many ingredients and is quickly made, two things I am a big advocate for as I personally don’t enjoy standing in the kitchen for hours and hours.

Happy Baking!

LIST OF INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Unsweetened Creamy Peanut Butter

2 Scoops Vanilla Protein

¼ Cup Egg Whites

1 Tea Spoon Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

18 Chocolate Kisses

Coconut Oil Spray

PROCEDURE:

STEP #1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

STEP #2: Combine all ingredients, except the chocolate kisses, in a large bowl and stir.

STEP #3: Form one tablespoon sized balls and put them on a cookie sheet greased with coconut oil.

STEP #4: Bake the cookies in the oven for 10 minutes. Once you removed the cookies from the oven and let them cool for a couple minutes, press one chocolate kiss onto each cookie.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Image: Anne-Kathrin Schulte

———————————————————————————————–——————Anne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes about her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany, she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

This Friday marks the 1st of December and while we can start opening the first door on our advent calendar (Yay!), we still have to wait a few days to lighten the first candle on our Advent wreath. The first Sunday of Advent is near however and on December 3rd we will officially enter the 4 weeks of Advent before Christmas Eve.

Typical for the Christmas season in Germany is having an Advent calendar helping you countdown to the 24th December, an advent wreath that is the centerpiece in the dining room or living room, and… lots of homemade Christmas cookies to share with family and friends! And some families do take holiday baking really seriously! It’s not uncommon for some families to sport up to 15 different cookie varieties. No kidding!

So…, how is your holiday baking coming along this season?

If you are still struggling with deciding what to bake and want to get inspired, check out our posts on Thursdays. Every Thursday until Christmas one of our CaliforniaGermans contributors will let you in on his or her favorite baking recipe for the holiday season.

Butterplätzchen – Butter Cookies

A classic in German Christmas baking is the Butterplätzchen (butter cookie). It’s a favorite for baking with children. They love using cookie cutters in all kinds of shapes to make these most classic Christmas cookie of all and decorate them later. The difference between American and German Christmas butter cookies might not only be the recipe but also the size. Usually the German variation is thinner and much smaller in size than its US counterpart.

Prepare a shortcrust pastry ( Knetteig) by sifting the flour on a board, adding the sugar and the butter cut in little flakes on top. Make a little depression in the middle of the heap of the flour mixture and add the egg yolk, rum and grated lemon.

Blend the ingredients by first chopping them with a large knife, then kneading them to a smooth dough with your hands.

Form a big round ball out of the dough, wrap it in parchment paper and let it rest for about 30 min in the refrigerator.

Dust your work surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough to about 3mm thin. Cut out different forms with your cookie cutters. Place the various cookie shapes on a lined baking sheet, and bake them for about 356-392 Fahrenheit in the pre-heated oven for about 8-10 minutes. They should look golden brown.

Before you start decorating your cookies, place the cookies on a cooling rack. Then whisk the egg yolk used for decorating with the 1 tbsp milk and brush the cookies with a thin layer. Decorate them with chocolate sprinkles, colored sugar pearls or coarse sugar.

…and you are ready to enjoy one of the most traditional German Christmas Cookies!

Happy Forth Sunday of Advent!

.

Let us know your favorite German Christmas Cookie Recipe and send it to CaliforniaGermans(at)gmail.com !

Coconut Macaroons – Kokosmakronen

Coconut macaroons are an absolute must for any holiday cookie baker. At least that’s what I was told by a very dear American friend, who has lived for years in Germany. When she saw my recent Friday posts on German Christmas Cookie baking, Weihnachtsbäckerei, she insisted that I had to include this old time favorite!

So here we go with her two recipes ! Yes, two recipes: One is with whole eggs and the other one is made only with egg whites. A great recipe, if you have excess egg whites left from your previous cookie baking, which you want to use.

Coconut Macaroons Recipe made with Whole Eggs

Ingredients:

125g Butter

375g Sugar

1 package Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar or 1 tbsp of vanilla extract

4 Egg yolks

50g flour

375g shredded coconut

4 egg whites

Beat the butter into a foamy mixture slowly adding half of the 375g sugar, as well as the Vanilla sugar and the 4 egg yolks. After having mixed well add the rest of the sugar. Then gradually add the 50g of flour to the batter together with the 375g shredded coconut.

In a separate bowl beat the 4 egg whites until you get a firm and stiff consistency, then carefully fold it into the coconut mixture.

With 2 teaspoons take out some of the batter, form little heaps of dough and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 420-430 Fahrenheit and bake the cookies for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Makes a batch of deliciously golden looking coconut macaroons!

Quick Coconut Macaroons Recipe made with Egg Whites only

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

250g sugar

350g shredded coconut

A few drops orange peel aroma by Dr. Oetker or McCormick

150 g hacked pistachios for decorating

Beat the egg whites to a firm, stiff consistency gradually adding the sugar while you keep beating the mixture until it takes on a glossy consistency and has stiff peaks. Fold the shredded coconut together with the orange aroma carefully under the batter.

Form little heaps of dough, put a few hacked pistachios on top and put them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the coconut macaroons in a preheated oven (320 Fahrenheit) for about 10-15 minutes.

Makes beautifully white coconut macaroons with a green pistachio top!

Enjoy!

Let us know your favorite German Christmas Cookie Recipe and send it to CaliforniaGermans(at)gmail.com !

Chocolate Wasp Nests – Wespennester

Today we are adding a chocolate macaroon with slivered almonds and a touch of cloves to our Weihnachstbäckerei. A very light but intensely flavored Christmas cookie satisfying your chocolate cravings. Thank you Christine R. from San Diego!

Ingredients for 60 pieces:

250g slivered almonds

2 tbsp sugar

250g bittersweet chocolate

4 egg whites

250g sugar

1 pinch ground cloves

Directions:

Spread the slivered almonds on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the 2 tbsp sugar. Bake them in the oven at 392F degrees for about 15 minutes to let them get golden brown.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Carefully add the sugar and the ground cloves while continuing to beat the egg whites.

Continue to mix the mixture with the electric mixer (on a lower level) for about another 10 minutes until the mixture takes on a glossy and thick appearance. Slowly add and fold into the mixture the slivered almonds and the melted chocolate.

With 2 teaspoons make little heaps of dough and put them on a greased baking sheet.

Bake the cookies on the lowest rack in the preheated oven (302 F ) for about 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Let us know your favorite German Christmas Cookie Recipe and send it to CaliforniaGermans(at)gmail.com !

Rum Squares – Rumwürfel

Gusti F. from Northern California shared her easy to bake recipe for delicious Rumwürfel/Rum Squares. Let’s say it’s a cookie for adults, since the rum flavor is a bit strong for the kids. But I can assure you, you will fall in love with these Rum Squares! They are just so delectable! – Thank you, Gusti!

Ingredients for the sponge dough mixture:

160 g butter

4 whole eggs

500g sugar

500g flour

(60g cocoa if you like the dough to be chocolate colored inside; or you can make half a batch with brown dough and the other half with light dough)

3/4 of a Dr. Oetker baking powder bag

1 small cup of milk

Ingredients for the chocolate/coconut coating:

500g powdered sugar

8 rows of “Blockschokolade” (baking chocolate)

3/4 l rum

1 -2 bags of coconut flakes

Directions:

1. Combine the butter, eggs, sugar, flower, baking powder and milk and blend it into a sponge cake mixture (Rührteig). Once smooth, put half of the dough mixture aside and mix in the cocoa so you can make half a batch of rum squares that a chocolaty inside.

2. Smooth out the dough on a baking sheet that’s covered with parchment paper and put it in the oven for 45 minutes at 356 F.

3. In the meantime, while the cake mixture is baking, prepare the chocolate coating: Grind the baking chocolate (“Blockschokolade”) and mix it in with the powdered sugar. Slowly add the 3/4 l of rum to the mixture while stirring continuously and blending it into a somewhat pasty mixture.

4. After 45 min take the baking sheet out of the oven and cut the cake into little squares.

5. Put the coconut flakes into a bowl. Take each little cake square and dunk it into the chocolate-rum mixture, let the excess chocolate mixture drop off and then roll the chocolate square in the coconut flakes.

6. After step 5, put each square straight into an airtight container so that the aroma of the tasty Rum Squares is preserved.

So we thought of having a German Christmas Cookie Challenge!! …Are you in?

Send us your authentic and most loved German Christmas Cookie recipe and be featured here on our website!

Do you have a special recipe that makes you remember those cozy candlelight evenings with family and friends back in Germany? We need it!

Help us bring the comfort and warmth of the beautiful ‘Adventszeit’ (Advent Season) to all the CaliforniaGermans expats here in California! There is nothing like the scent of freshly baked cookies bringing Christmas spirit into our homes.

Send in your favorite German Christmas Cookie recipe to californiagermans(AT)gmail.com

Every Friday until December 23, the night before German Christmas, we will feature a cookie recipe that is special to a CaliforniaGermans at “Weihnachtsbäckerei” on our website.

To start off the official Christmas Baking Season, here is a Christmas favorite of my family: Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents), a recipe passed down from my grandmother.

Vanillakipferl – Vanilla Crescents

Ingredients:

250 g flour (add a pinch of baking powder)

125 g sugar

3 egg yolks

200 g unsalted butter

125 g almond flour

50 g hazelnut flour

Bourbon Vanilla Extract

Combine all the ingredients to a dough by hand not the mixer. We call it ‘Knetteig’. Start out with the flour to which you add the almond flour, hazelnut flour and the sugar. Then add the butter (should be at room temperature and cut into little thin pieces) and then add the egg yolks and some Bourbon Vanilla extract. You can start mixing it all with a fork but once the dough gets heavier it’s easiest to just get in with your hands to work a nice smooth dough.

Put the dough to ‘rest’ into the fridge for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes cut a chunk off the main dough to make a long 1 inch role which you then cut into 2 inch pieces. (Repeat that step for the whole dough) Take each 2 inch piece and roll it into a crescent with the ends thinning out towards the end. Place your crescents on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350-390 °F

Then turn the still warm Vanillekipferl in Vanilla Sugar , and your first German Christmas cookie is ready to eat!

German Christmas Cookies: Hazelnut Macaroons

German Christmas cookies Hazelnut Macaroons (in German Haselnussmakronen) is a classic German recipe for the Holiday season and for Christmas. Germany is known for its unique and delicious Christmas Bakery. If you have not made any German Christmas cookies before, this is a good starter cookie as it is very easy to make. Happy Baking!

Baking Instructions German Christmas Cookies– Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
– Beat egg white with pinch of salt very firm (so firm that if you cut it with the knife you would see the cut!)
– Add sugar; sieve it over the firm egg white and carefully mix it.
– Then add the hazelnuts and cinnamon and mix it carefully. If you cannot get ground hazelnuts or hazelnut flour, you can use a coffee grinder to grind them.
– Dust a baking tray with flour.
– Place on each wafer with 2 teaspoons a small amount of hazelnut batter and place in the middle one half of a hazelnut.
– Bake them for 10-15 minutes depending on the oven. Check frequently, you don’t want the wafers become brown.
TipIf you want you can bake them without the wafers too. Instead using wafers for the bottom you can use melted chocolate and dip the bottoms of the baked macaroons in it briefly.

MyBestGermanRecipes is the creation of Gabriele Utz. Interested in cooking and baking ever since she can think of she now has turned her passion into reality, and has started an online cookbook with authentic German recipes in 2010. The website offers more than 300 original German recipes.